Resource allocation techniques are inventions relating to the technical field of allocating areas of a storage device (local storage) of a platform to applications. In order to systematically manage various applications provided by various organizations around the world, MHP (Multimedia Home Platform), which is implemented in digital broadcast receivers designed for use in Europe, defines the structure of local storage directories, so that the local storage is accessible via a file path of a unified format shown below.
File Path: Root/organization ID/Application ID
The organization ID in the file path is an identifier uniquely identifying an organization that is the supplier of the application. The application ID is an identifier uniquely identifying the application.
In order to carry out the storage area allocation, an MHP-complaint device verifies the authenticity of the application using a root certificate. The following describes authenticity verification of the application and storage allocation to the application.
Generally, a creator of an application attaches a root certificate to the application before providing the application to a device. The root certificate is identical to a root certificate uniquely assigned to the device. On receiving an application attached with a root certificate, the device judges whether the attached root certificate is identical to the root certificate assigned to the device. If the two root certificates are identical, the device allocates, to the application, an organization directory corresponding to the supplier organization of the application. Thus, the application is allowed to access any file contained in the organization directory.
A technique for appropriately controlling application's access right is disclosed in the following non-patent document 1.